


The deer that leaps highest

by elwinglyre



Series: Brokeback Mountain One Shots and Drabbles [9]
Category: Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 17:28:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13171734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elwinglyre/pseuds/elwinglyre





	The deer that leaps highest

A WOUNDED deer leaps highest,  
I ’ve heard the hunter tell;  
’T is but the ecstasy of death,  
And then the brake is still. 

The smitten rock that gushes, 5  
The trampled steel that springs:  
A cheek is always redder  
Just where the hectic stings! 

Mirth is the mail of anguish,  
In which it caution arm, 10  
Lest anybody spy the blood  
And “You ’re hurt” exclaim!  
by Emily Dickinson 

He waited, silent up wind-- the butt of the rifle tight to his shoulder. The buck stood still in the clearing. Ennis held his breath and squeezed the trigger. The rifled kicked. At first he thought he'd missed. The buck bounded off, leaping high over the rocks into the hills, but the flecks of blood left on leaves told them differently.

They tracked the buck through the brush and rocks. The trail was easy to follow, but the buck moved straight and fast. 

"The shot was clean, through the lungs," Jack said. "He should fall soon." 

Jack lead, Ennis behind. They followed the dark red splatters, a rich-red line across rocks and yellowed pine needles. Despite losing so much blood, the buck struggled on. They followed for hours until at last they knew that the buck was wearing down. Jack's finger swiped the sticky trail that ran jagged now, no longer straight through the rocks and bush. But time was short, not much day left: the sun's red light a warning. Jack cursed his aim and the falling sun. Ennis knew they must find the buck soon before the last of the daylight bled on the ground beneath their feet.

They found him on his side in the brush. His large eyes wide and blind as he panted. Jack heard the gurgle in each labored breath. Jack was right-- the shot was through the lung. 

"Better finish 'em," Ennis mumbled, more to himself then to Jack. This shot was true-- clean to the head. They gutted him there, propped him on his back, and Jack's sharp knife cut through the hid past the stomach muscle, swiping from it genitals to the sternum. Ennis heaved the buck over on it's side, the inside spilled out onto the ground. They cleaned it together, then tied its legs and pulled it back to camp. It was late before they finished skinning and cutting strips of venison to dry across the rack.

\-----------------------

Ennis threw two more logs on a fire that dances in the dark. The smell of red meat filled the chill of the night. They're both tired and hungry.

Their plates full, Jack watched as Ennis took a bite. For the first time in years and years, Jack wished for beans instead.

\--------------------

Jack's eyes looked up at the moon remembering as his own lungs filled with blood.


End file.
